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Confounding variable

English translation: Extra variable that wasn’t accounted for

10:22 Sep 20, 2019
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Mathematics & Statistics
English term or phrase: Confounding variable
People with longer finger nails and longer hair tend to have smaller feet than people with shorter fingernails
Angel
Selected answer:Extra variable that wasn’t accounted for
Explanation:
A confounding variable is an “extra” variable that you didn’t account for. They can ruin an experiment and give you useless results. They can suggest there is correlation when in fact there isn’t. They can even introduce bias. That’s why it’s important to know what one is, and how to avoid getting them into your experiment in the first place.
Selected response from:

AJ Ablooglu
Türkiye
Local time: 21:41
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +3Extra variable that wasn’t accounted for
AJ Ablooglu


  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
confounding variable
Extra variable that wasn’t accounted for


Explanation:
A confounding variable is an “extra” variable that you didn’t account for. They can ruin an experiment and give you useless results. They can suggest there is correlation when in fact there isn’t. They can even introduce bias. That’s why it’s important to know what one is, and how to avoid getting them into your experiment in the first place.


    Reference: http://www.statisticshowto.datasciencecentral.com/experiment...
    Reference: http://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-profe...
AJ Ablooglu
Türkiye
Local time: 21:41
Native speaker of: Native in TurkishTurkish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  B D Finch: Yes, and presumably gender would be a confounding variable in the Asker's example.
4 hrs
  -> agree
agree  philgoddard: I do think the asker should have Googled this.
11 hrs
  -> agree
agree  D. I. Verrelli: Yes, and the Asker can find many resources online (& in print) explaining this too.
2 days 4 hrs
  -> agree
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